


Sword Art Survival: Leafa's Song

by Kaggyin23



Category: Sword Art Online (Anime & Manga), ソードアート・オンライン - 川原礫 | Sword Art Online - Kawahara Reki
Genre: Action, Action/Adventure, Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Drama, Drama & Romance, Eventual Romance, F/M, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-18 01:54:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29360625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaggyin23/pseuds/Kaggyin23
Summary: A groundbreaking new VRMMO based on SAO had been recently released to a new piece of hardware. For a few days people played it normally, but suddenly, they all got locked in, and a mysterious repeat of the SAO incident was upon them. While looking for a way out, Kirito, Asuna and Leafa would be forced to work with a shady guild whoose leader had more to him than meets the eye.
Relationships: Kirigaya Kazuto | Kirito/Yuuki Asuna | Asuna, Kirigaya Suguha | Leafa/Original Male Character(s)
Kudos: 2





	Sword Art Survival: Leafa's Song

Everything started on that fateful day.

The release of the NerveGear, and the revolutionary VRMMO Sword Art Online. A breathtaking experience that could immerse a player inside a fantasy world almost indistinguishable from reality. But what at first seemed like a wonderful dream, would turn out to be a terrible nightmare. On the game's release day, the lead game designer, Akihiko Kayaba, trapped thousands of players in a twisted death game. You die in the game, you die in real life. That was the reality in the lives of all the people who found themselves imprisoned in the world of Aincrad, the only way to escape that game being to climb all the 100 floors and defeat the final boss. Many people died on the way, but eventually, due to efforts of the beater Kirito, now known as "The Hero of Aincrad", the players emerged victorious and the twisted game finally came to a close. That event would then come to be known as the "SAO Incident", and it's stories became a massive hit on gamer and internet culture.

A few years later, an emergent billion dollar company called "Requiem" bought the rights to the NerveGear and SAO trademarks, and started to advertise what would be a new VRMMO that sought to, in their words, "Recreate the experience brought by Sword Art Online". The new game was named "Sword Art Survival", and it would use many features unique to SAO and ALO. They showed it all in the trailers, it had sword skills, the combat seemed almost a carbon copy, and even some of the asses were clearly the same. It seemed like they really were trying to copycat SAO in a way even more blatant than what ALO did, really trying to capitalize on the hype of those who were fascinated by the SAO incident. Requiem even released a new console, the "NerveGear 2" that would be the only platform where the game would be released. There was controversy about this new device, but in the end, not much was done by the authorities.

The only clear differences were the map, that was supposed to be a globe similar to our earth instead of a series of floors, NPCs that were almost human, and the presence of a survival system. Players needed to eat and drink in order for their characters to survive, making food and water very important and valuable goods similarly to high level gear and healing items. For a long time, this game was big news and even mainstream news sources were covering it like crazy.

Differently from SAO's release, millions of people had bought the game at release and were ready to play right as the servers opened. People were having fun, making jokes about getting stuck in there and dying in real life, because of course, everyone was sure that nothing like the dreadful SAO incident could actually repeat itself. And so, the servers finally opened.

Everything was just normal. No perma deaths, no people dying in real life, and no missing logout button. For a week, the game was seen as a masterpiece by both critics and the playerbase. Millions were having fun in the new world of Darcina, and even some SAO survivors were jumping in on the hype train and were regarded as celebrities. Until that day…

Suddenly, what people joked about so much actually happened: the logout button disappeared and players started dying for good. But differently from before, players were kept completely in the dark about what was happening, and nobody had a clue about how to get out of that game, players only got the announcement that if they died in the game, just as it was with SAO, they'd die in real life too. For the first few months, guilds started to explore every nook and cranny of the world looking for hints and way outs, without much success. In time, those "frontline" groups would dwindle in number by the day, with members being increasingly more concerned with surviving than to explore the world and look for a way out.

Now, twenty whole years after the release of Sword Art Survival, the vast majority of the surviving playerbase didn't care about coming back to the real world anymore. People had lost hope, and now concentrated their energy on trying to survive and make the best out of their lives inside this game, people were settling down, getting married, starting families and even finding new hobbies, almost everyone had accepted that they'd never leave that place, even though a huge chunk of content was still unexplored.

With players getting more and more used to the game's systems, the economy was thriving and guild wars were becoming less frequent, although they still happened. Guilds started making their own laws and rules in their territories, and some of the bigger ones were even taking over cities and enforcing their rule over the NPC population that lived there, others were raiding NPC towns and stealing their food and water because NPCs too needed to drink and eat to survive. At this point, everybody knew that you needed to be with a guild in order to be more or less safe, and solo playing was incredibly rare.

But even with all of that, there were still some clinging to the hope of going back to the real world. Among those, was The Hero of Aincrad himself: Kirito.

-x-

"Kirito, switch!" The orange haired woman yelled, as she quickly jumped a few feet backwards, rapier in hand, her eyes set on the armored skeleton she was fighting. The creature advanced, axe in hand, seeking to deliver a blow onto the woman's head, until, like a bolt of lightning, a young man in a long dark coat parried the monster's strike with a sword slash of his own. Around them, there was a forest of dead trees and a cloudy sky, a scenery almost taken straight out of a dark fantasy story.

The man was wielding two swords, and right after parrying the monster's move with one of them, the other's blade started to glow, and as the black swordsman felt the triggering of the sword skill, his body flowed like the wind and delivered a swift and elegant thrust, cutting the monster in half, and making it explode into a thousand little sparkling polygons.

"All it took was one hit, huh?" A woman with long blonde hair and green clothing said, with a smile. "As expected of my big brother."

"Good work, Kirito!" The orange haired girl shoved her rapier back at it's scabbard as she spoke, in a tender tone of voice. The black swordsman smiled back at the two girls, sheathing his own swords at his back. "It was nothing, Asuna, Leafa." The young adult then, with a quick hand movement, opened up his inventory and materialized a map of that region. "We should still be able to make it today if we keep up this pace." Said him, turning around to look at the dirt road they were following.

Asuna looked determined as she walked to Kirito's side, with Leafa following suit. "Then we should get going, we don't have any time to waste!" Said her, confidently.

Kirito chuckled, it warmed his heart to see Asuna and his sister in such good spirits. For the longest time, they were very sad and depressed over the fact that they'd been trapped in that game for that many years, but even so, they pushed on. "You're right, just a little more and i'm sure we'll be able to see Yui and the others again."

Kirito, Asuna and Leafa were the only ones out of their group of friends that were logged onto SAS when the death game started, and so, they got separated from their friends. Seeing them again was one of the biggest reasons as to why they never gave up exploring and searching for a way out. Suguha's avatar, for some reason that they couldn't explain, looked like her ALO sylph version, all the while everyone else's were how they looked in real life.

The group started walking through the road once more, making their way deeper into that dark forest. "I still can't believe that after all those years we finally found a lead on a quest that may let us out of this place." Leafa commented. "To think that, even after all those years, we might still make it out of here alive…" She looked at the sky, with a dreamy look in her face.

"I guess our determination finally paid off." Added the beater, taking a quick look in the map to make sure that they're on the right track. "All that we need to do is to get permission from the local guild and then start searching for our quest, I'm sure we'll be back in no time."

The group listened to the sounds of a few birds of prey in the sky, those sounds sent chills down Leafa's spine. "What kind of guild controls this place anyway?" Asked the blonde girl, a bit scared. "I can't imagine anyone wanting to settle in this place."

"Guilds don't have much choice, if some place has resources and it isn't yet controlled by anyone, it would be a waste to not take control of it." Explained the black haired young man, ever knowledgeable about game mechanics. "According to what Argo told me, this place, Ravensong Glades, is controlled by a guild called "The Red Capes", and they make their business by selling raw meat dropped from local mobs and some farmed vegetables, but they have to buy water from other guilds because all water in this area is poisonous." The Red Capes were a medium to small sized guild, and really couldn't compare to the bigger ones that existed.

Food and water were scarce in SAS, they were valuable resources. And differently from most games, you couldn't buy unlimited supplies of those at NPC vendors. Meat, for example, needed to drop from certain mobs, who only respawned in very long intervals, and then cooked by someone with a cooking skill to be edible, and not all water was drinkable. Sea water, for example, didn't fill the thirst meter that players have. Vegetables and fruits, on the other hands, could be grown by someone with certain skills, but they weren't unlimited either, and could only be grown on fertile land.

And thus, afraid of running out of resources and dying, guilds started to take over territories where there was water, fertile land and mobs who dropped food. Those guilds would settle there, set up a system to take full advantage of mob respawn times for example, stockpile on food and have their cooks distribute the food and drinks among themselves. And they wouldn't allow for other players to farm and collect resources unless they were part of their guild. Most of those territories were hardly self sufficient, and guilds and players were forced to frequently trade with people from other areas. This also caused conflict, with guilds often fighting others for territory. With death being such a big part of everyday life, player killing became more and more common until it became natural, after all, oftentimes it was kill or BE killed.

Leafa nodded, understanding the situation a little bit better now. Even still, she really didn't like that place, Leafa was much more into the beautiful fairy lands of ALO than this gritty, awful place. The trio walked for about an hour or so, and were finally met with a view of a stronghold, made with stone and wood, pretty run down. Atop the towers, flew the flag of the Red Capes: a black background with a crimson red "V" drawn in the middle. That was the guild's HQ: Fort Ravensong.

As they approached the lowered drawbridge that led to the building, two players wearing red capes and full sets medium tier gear, mainly leather with a few iron pieces. They approached Kirito's party. "Who goes there?" Asked one of them. Kirito deduced they were guards, and then swiftly replied in a friendly manner. "My name is Kirito, we're a group of adventurers, and we have business with your guild leader and so we'd like to talk to him."

The other guard raised an eyebrow. "With what guild are you with?" He asked. "Actually we're not associated with any guild." The black haired young man answered, as the guards looked at each other a bit surprised, it was quite hard to find players that weren't part of any guild at those times. One of the guards went inside the stronghold, and after a few minutes came back. "Come, the boss said to bring you in." The other one gave Kirito a smirk. "Welcome to Ravensong."

"That's wonderful." Asuna answered, in high spirits. She and Kirito were quite calm about that situation, Leafa was still clearly on edge though. Not liking that place one bit, and always looking over her shoulder as she and her friends were escorted inside Ravensong. It was dimly lit, and because of the cloudy weather a lot of the light came from a few torches hanging on the walls. Eventually, the group climbed a few stairs on what they believed to be a tower, and reached a closed up wooden door.

"Let them in." They heard a commanding voice from the inside, after the guard knocked on the door. The room was a bit more ornate than the others, with a few weapons hanging in the walls. Behind a big wooden desk sat a young man, looking about Kirito's age, with dark brown short hair and black, "dead", eyes. He wore a dark set of plate armor with a few details in red, with the guild's trademark red cape. Leafa thought that he looked a bit like Kirito, but devoid of the same "warm aura" her brother had. Behind him there was a huge window, and they could see the not so breathtaking vista of the Ravensong Glades.

The man stared at Kirito, intrigued, without saying anything. before they knew it, the guard had left and the trio was alone in the room with the man. Kirito was starting to feel a bit awkward, but eventually, the man started to talk. "So, you're the famous Black Swordsman, huh?" The leader started to talk, his voice being unexpectedly deep for his looks. "I'm Dazor, guild leader of the Red Capes. It's a pleasure to meet you ." Kirito, Asuna and Leafa then took a seat in front of his desk. "You got that right, my name is Kirito, nice to meet you too." Said him, with a soft giggle. "This is my wife, Asuna, and my sister Leafa." He continued, Asuna gave a bright smile and Leafa tried to follow suit, awkwardly.

"So, what brings you here?" Dazor asked, not beating around the bush. "So, we've been looking for leads on something that could maybe let us escape this game." Kirito explained, making the leader raise an eyebrow. "Oh? Is that true?" The leader looked really intrigued, in many years nobody had ever found a single hint on a way to leave the game, and so, he was quite surprised.

"That's right, and our tip off led us to believe that the key to figuring all of that out is hidden somewhere in your guild's territory." Kirito continued. Dazor rolled his eyes as he heard that, all of his interest in that seemingly being lost. "So i presume that you want my permission to freely explore the area and look for this… key?" The guild leader asked, before Kirito could finish.

"Yes." Kirito confirmed, starting to feel a bit uneasy by that man's sudden tonal shift.

"I should've known." Dazor smirked, leaning back in his fancy chair. "And what if, Mr. Kirito, I told you that i think you're making that up in order to fool me into letting you farm for resources in my land without anyone bothering you?" He said, bluntly. Kirito looked to the side, that reaction was actually expected, since players were always out to get more resources and many people already believed and accepted that there was no getting out of that game.

Leafa, however, was furious. "What the hell!?" She got up from her chair. "We'd never do something so low! Who do you think we are!?" The blonde snapped at Dazor, who didn't seem to mind it much. Asuna was visibly angry too, but didn't say anything.

"Leafa, calm down." Said Kirito, touching her shoulder. "Let me handle this." She looked back at him, and although she was still angry, she knew that her big brother could probably handle that better than her. And so, she sat back at her chair, trusting him. "Dazor, you have every right to be suspicious, but is there some way we can earn your trust?"

The guild leader was silent for a few seconds, wondering what he should say. "Normally, I'd say no." Dazor started to talk, once again staring at Kirito's soul. "But you know, if there's someone who could maybe pull off getting us all of this place, it'd be you. After all, you already did it once before." Dazor took a little break before continuing. "Yes, I too am an SAO survivor. I was never in the front lines back in the day, but I did hear many stories about the beater, the Black Swordsman who would become the Hero of Aincrad. We even crossed paths once or twice, but I doubt you remember me. This goes for you too, Asuna." Asuna and Kirito looked intrigued at his words. Asuna truly didn't recall meeting him, but Kirito thought he looked quite familiar.

"I owe you a great debt." Dazor crossed his hands. "But, I cannot risk the livelihood of my guild. And so, as you said, you'll have to earn my trust." Kirito frowned, looking determined. "And what do we have to do?" Asked the Black Swordsman.

"Work with my guild for… let's say, six months." Dazor said, pausing for a few instants before continuing. "If you accept, when the time passes i'll allow you to do as you please in my territory..."

"I knew it!" Asuna interrupted him. "You just want to use us!" She said, clearly irritated. "Think what you will, it's the only choice you have." Dazor replied, sounding indifferent. "Of course, you could always take the information to a bigger guild and have they slaughter us all and take the territory, but could you live with the bloodshed that would ensue?"

Kirito gritted his teeth. It's true that he'd taken lives before, but it still wasn't something that he took lightly. The Black Swordsman gave it some thought, and then answered, reluctantly. "Very well, we'll work with you, but we won't join your guild." Kirito answered, holding his ground. "And we won't kill if we don't think it's necessary, those are my terms."

"Kirito!?" Said Leafa, surprised that Kirito was actually going to take that deal. He then looked at her, giving a confident smirk, reassuring her that it would be ok. "Music to my ears." Dazor got up, extending his hand, to which Kirito responded by shaking it. "I look forward to working with you."

Sunndely, a guild member barged in unannounced. "Boss! We caught the fugitive!" Said the man, alarmed. "What 's going on?" Kirito asked, a bit lost. "Follow me, we can continue this talk later. I got some business to take care of." The guild leader decided, hurrying out of the door, with Kirito and his friends following right behind. The group walked down the stairs and into a courtyard, there, a commotion seemed to be taking place.

Right in the middle, a man was on his knees, being held by two Red Capes. Other members watched from afar, all in silence, and as Dazor walked in, the prisoner's eyes widened in fear, his mouth agape. Dazor's expression was impassive, Kirito couldn't tell if he was feeling angry, sad or if he was just indifferent. The Guild Leader then, slowly, approached the terrified man.

"Dazor… you… you're gonna kill me?" He asked, tears starting to form in his eyes, as the guild leader watched as impassive as always. The place was silent for a few seconds, as Dazor simply stared into that man's soul. "I only did it for my sister!" The captive yelled, crying. "I didn't want her to have to live in this horrible place!" Tears flowed down his cheeks as he cried.

"You know the rules, Llyod. And yet you still stole from us." The boss spoke, in a severe tone of voice. "You've known the rules ever since you first joined. You betray us, you die."

Lloyd kept crying for a few more instants, with all of the guild members watching this without uttering a single word. Until he finally started to accept his fate. "Ok…" Said the poor sod, a bit more in control of his emotions. "I understand."

"Take off your gear, it'll make it quicker." Dazor suggested, as the guards released him and allowed him to unequip his armor. Now with him in normal clothes, Dazor got behind him and drew his blade, a red and black longsword with the red "V" of the guild carved in it's round pommel. "Any last requests?" The leader asked, holding his blade high.

"Take care of Sarina, protect her, and don't let her starve." The man looked at the ground, coming to terms with his impending demise. "And don't tell her any of this, say that i died fighting a powerful monster or something..."

"I will." Dazor replied, his blade shining red as he readied a sword skill. And thus, came down the shining blade of the sword, cutting a massive wound in Lloyd's back, making him scream as his HP bar dwindled until it was empty, and he exploded into a thousand pixels. Kirito and Asuna watched it to the end, having been hardened to that sight for a long time. Leafa, however, even after all this time, couldn't stand the sight of a man dying and looked away at the last moment.

"Tarick, Balur, go find Lloyd's sister in the Town of Beginnings and bring her here." Ordered Dazor, putting his sword back on his sheath. "She's a Red Cape now. And tell her that Lloyd died heroically in a monster's lair, protecting his squad from a dangerous creature." The guild leader started walking in the direction of Kirito's group, accompanied by a brawny adult man in heavy plate armor and dreadlocks. "This is Falrick, my underboss." Dazor introduced the man, who raised a hand as a greeting. "He'll show you to your rooms, your work starts tomorrow."

And so, Falrick led the trio to a simple bedroom with three beds and a window. The place was relatively clean and well taken care of, differently from most of Fort Ravensong. He told them that was their room and left the trio to their own business, closing the wooden door behind sat in one of the beds, clearly looking distressed and frustrated, and Kirito sat beside her, placing his hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her. "It seems that we're gonna be stuck here for a few more months at least, huh?" Said Asuna, taking a deep breath. "I can't stand it anymore. Twenty years… For twenty years we've been stuck in this place!" Tears started forming in her eyes. "I miss Yui so much, i wanna to see her again…"

Kirito looked sad too, as he couldn't stand to see his beloved wife like that. He caressed her shoulder, doing his best to show her that he was there for him. "I promise you Asuna, we will get out of this place, and we will see everyone again." Kirito comforted her, trying to sound confident. "We just have to hold out for a little longer." Kirito looked down. "I wanted to avoid working with guilds, especially shady ones, but we don't really have any better option." Kirito hugged her. "We'll pull through, together, like we always do."

Leafa watched the scene, it was almost as if those two were in their own little world. And although she had already accepted that Kirito would never love her back the way she wanted him to, it still stung a bit. Leafa wondered if someday she'd find someone she could truly love, and also love her back just like Kirito and Asuna.

Eventually, nighttime came and they had dinner in the halls of the fort. Kirito and his group were invited to sit at the other table alongside Dazor, Falrick and the guild officers. Kirito thought the food was serviceable, not as good as Asuna's cooking for sure, but enough to sate his enormous appetite. After eating, they went back to their room and slept.

-x-

Next morning, the climate was still cloudy but a bit less dark. Over breakfast, Falrick, the underboss, told Kirito and his group that they'd be helping train one of the raid squads of the guild that was underperforming. After eating, they went to the training field, a swampy area close to the stronghold, where a group of twenty other players waited. One youngster with reddish hair and freckles quickly approached Kirito as he approached with his group. "You're the Black Swordsman Kirito, right?" He grabbed Kirito's hand, shaking it excitedly. "My name is Gandro, it's a pleasure!"

Kirito gave him an awkward smile. "Likewise." He then turned to the rest of the group, who clearly didn't share the enthusiasm Gandro had, looking down and clearly low on morale. "So, I take it you're the raid leader?" Asked Leafa.

"Yes ma'am!" He gave her a salute. "Commander Gandro from Raid Team Charlie of the Red Capes, reporting for duty!" The other members cringed at their leader's antics, and so did Kirito.

"So, I heard you guys are underperforming?" Asked Asuna, crossing her arms. "Fear not, I'll teach you guys how we did things back in the Knights of the Blood Oath."

And so, Kirito, Asuna and Leafa each got a fraction of the team and started to instruct them in the games' mechanics, combat and strategies. They instructed them in sword skills, consumables, switching and so on. When it came midday, everyone had their lunch and Kirito took a quick nap beside a tree, from which Asuna had to wake him up so that he wouldn't sleep until evening.

"Alright, now onto real practice." Asuna said, addressing the entire group. "We'll go hunt a relatively weak world boss that should spawn nearby, I want to see you guys use everything you learned today. If you see yourself in danger, just retreat!" Asuna repeated the words she heard from her late Commander Heathcliff, who taught her everything she knew about leadership. Despite him having been Akihiko Kayaba in disguise, she still had fond memories of the man. The group morale was already higher, it seems that Kirito's knowledge and Asuna's leadership skills had inspired them, and Commander Gandro couldn't be any happier. And so, they started walking deep into the dark swamp, in the direction of the world boss' lair. Gandro and Kirito walked in the front, and the Black Swordsman listened as the Commander told him tales about the guild. "You know, Fort Ravensong was originally home to an NPC band of mercenaries. The boss and us chased them out of there a few years ago and took the place for ourselves." The ginger continued, excited, as Kirito listened quietly.

Finally, the raid group reached the boss area: a clearing in the middle of the swamp. "What is this? Where's the world boss?" Gandro asked, confused. Kirito, however, was already suspicious of what could be happening, and he drew his two swords as soon as he realized it. "Everyone! Get ready to fight!" He yelled. If there was no boss here, this means that some other group already killed it, and since this was Red Cape territory…

It had to be a different guild trespassing in that land…

Out of the bushes, another group of players, wearing silvery colored gear arose and surrounded Kirito's squad, weapons drawn, ready to fight. It was an ambush. "Who are they!?" Leafa asked, drawing her own sword. "They're… they're the Sword Saints!" Yelled Gandro, terrified.

Sword Saints, Kirito had already heard of were a rival guild to the Red Capes, and the two guild, for having neighboring territories, had been at odds for a long times, with the Sword Saints oftentimes aggressively trying to take portions of land, and since they were a bigger guild, the Red Capes always tried to avoid open war.

But there wasn't time to think, without warning, the Sword Saints attacked. The clashing of blades and the light of the sword skills could be seen and heard from afar, the members of the two guilds started fighting tooth and nail for their survival, throwing out any sort of complicated tactic, that was a devastating melee, one that would probably end up in mutual destruction.

That is, if Kirito and Asuna weren't there. The Black Swordsman was locked in combat with three enemies at the same time, with not a single one managing to land a clear hit on him. One of enemies started running towards Kirito, and attempted to crush him with a giant hammer, Kirito swiftly sidestepped with his amazing agility and prepared to counter him, his blade shining green, unleashing the Snake Bite sword skill, landing a series of quick slashes that made fast work of the enemy's health bar.

Asuna too was fighting three enemies at once, while Leafa only fought two. Asuna was holding her ground just as well as Kirito, but she didn't notice another Sword Saint member sneaking behind her preparing to backstab her with a devastating dagger sword skill. His dagger was already flowing purple as Kirito realized what was about to happen, and he, without thinking, ran in his direction seeking to stop him from attacking.

"ASUNA!" He yelled running, as his blades started emitting a bright green light. That loud yell caught the attacker's attention as he turned his back to face an enraged Kirito out for his blood. The Sword saint didn't stand a chance as Kirito hacked and slashed his torso, and he screamed in pain as the Black Swordsman struck him the Starburst Stream sword skill, with the sounds of pain only coming to an end as Kirito delivered the final dual strike, making him explode in glowing pixels.

It happened, Kirito killed again.

Shortly after that, the other Sword Saints, scared for their lives, started to retreat and dispersed into the swamp. After seeing that the battle had been won, Kirito collapsed into the floor tired, not because the battle had been hard, but because killing never got any easier for him. "Kirito!" Asuna came rushing at his direction. "Are you ok?"

He looked at her, distressed. "Thanks, Asuna…I'm fine." He lied, standing up, knowing that he shouldn't show weakness in front of the raid group. "We should head back." He decided, sheathing his swords. The raid team was quite nervous, it wasn't normal for an attack of this scale to happen, and how could they have known enough info about the raid group to set up that precisa ambush? Kirito thought, was there a traitor among them?

Without much delay, they made their way back to Ravensong, and Kirito went straight to Dazor's office to tell him what happened. Reflecting on the battle of earlier, was that their life now? They'd have to keep fighting other guilds for land and resources? He thought.

"We think that someone might have tipped them off, it's the only way they could've known." Said Kirito, after relaying the story to Dazor and Falrick who listened quietly from the other side of the wooden desk.

"We'll look into it." Falrick answered, always more talkative than Dazor. Kirito then simply nodded and left, eager to get back to Asuna.

Seeing that they were finally alone in the room, the Boss and the Underboss of the Red Capes stood there quiet for a few more seconds. "Looks like you win our bet." Said Falrick, with a cocky smile. Dazor crossed his legs before answering. "Of course, I only set up a little test to root out any doubts you and the other officers might've had. I already knew that they would be able to pull through no problem, he's the Hero of Aincrad, I'm familiar with his skills." Dazor opened his inventory, and then started to look for an item in the drop down menu.

Falrick chuckled. "Still, don't you think that anonymously tipping off the Saints for them to set up an ambush was a bit too ruthless?" Asked the Underboss.

"Not at all, it was the perfect test." Dazor explained, finally finding the item he was looking for: a black longsword with a really sharp blade and incredible stats: the Elucidator. "Now, I know for a fact that he's more than a match against those fools." Said Dazor, making Falrick raise an eyebrow. "Oh, so you weren't testing Kirito's skills per se, only if he'd be capable of standing against those bastards Saints?" Asked the man with dreadlocks.

Dazor put the Elucidator atop the table. "Yes." he then stood up, and turned around to look at the vista outside the window. "With Kirito and his group, we're finally strong enough to crush the Sword Saints. Our time has come."

"Do you really think you'll be able to manipulate him into fighting for you like that?" The Underboss crossed his arms, leaning against a wall.

"I'll find a way." Dazor turned around. "I always do."

-x-

And so, night came once more, and the first day of Kirito and his friend's with the Red Capes had passed. It was already late, and the sky was unusually clear, so a few stars could be seen from the courtyard. Leafa couldn't sleep, she kept thinking about yesterday's execution and the battle earlier. The blonde girl sat in one of the stronhold's many courtyard's, looking at the sky, wishing that she could fly freely like she did back at ALO.

But the sound of footsteps took her back into reality, as she turned to see guild leader Dazor walking inside the place. "Good evening." He greeted her, sitting on a bench right in front of her. Leafa wasn't happy at all to see him. Not only was he the one responsible to force them to be stuck in that awful place, she also wasn't a fan of his ruthlessness, as in when he executed that man yesterday. "What do you want?" She asked, coldly.

"I couldn't sleep, so i came here to watch the stars." He said, in a casual tone. "You too?" Leafa raised her eyebrows, noticing that he had come here for the exact same reason she did, but then quickly reminding herself of who she was dealing with.

"What a coincidence." Commented the brown haired man, as he crossed his legs and started to stare at the starry sky, an indifferent expression in his face. Leafa didn't wanna talk to him, so she was a bit glad that he was apparently not one for many words, so she simply tried to ignore him and went back to stargazing.

Minutes passed with them both there, in silence, as the only sound that could be heard were those of the night, crickets and such. As much as Leafa didn't want to, the presence of that man kept taking her back to the events of earlier, and so, she couldn't hold herself back anymore. She needed to ask him something.

"Why did you kill that man?" Leafa asked, as she still looked at the sky.

"You're talking about yesterday?" He answered in the same way. "Yes." The blonde answered. "He was just stealing, why didn't you just kick him out of the guild? Did you really need to murder him?

Leafa could hear him taking a long breath. "He knew too much about the guild. Letting him go would risk our safety and locking him up for life would've been too cruel." Dazor explained, as if it was nothing.

Leafa then glared at him, now unable to hide her anger anymore. "Guys like you are the worst." She said. "You have no regard for people's lives, what's wrong with you!?"

Dazor looked at her with his "dead" eyes, contempt being the only emotion she could see emanating from his expression. "Lloyd was an old friend of mine, he was with us ever since before we settled in Ravensong." Dazor started to talk. Initially this made Leafa even angrier, but she decided to at least hear him out to the end. "If it was up to me, i wouldn't have killed him for what he did. His intentions were noble after all."

"You're the leader, of course it was up to you!" Leafa interrupted him, outraged. "You know what would've happened if i allowed him to live, do you?" The man asked. "I do, someone wouldn't have died." She answered, without thinking twice.

"True, I would've saved his life." Dazor then stared at her eyes. "But afterwards, word would start to go around that a man broke the guild's rules and walked away with his life. people would start to talk, more members would start breaking rules knowing that they could do it and live, opportunists would start doubting the strength of my leadership and other guilds would start seeing the Red Capes as weak."

Leafa listened as he continued. "And this spiral would, most likely, result in bloodshed. And the lives of many more men would've been lost." The girl looked away as he finished, she didn't agree with what he did, but now could at least see where he was coming from. "I had to make a choice, and I opted for the one that would result in less bloodshed."

The blonde girl reflected for a while, perhaps Dazor wasn't as big of a monster as she'd originally thought. "This guild is important to me, and in order to keep it from being destroyed, I sometimes need to make hard decisions." He then stood up. "But i've annoyed you for long enough, i'll leave you for tonight." The man then started to walk towards the corridor. "Night'" he said, disappearing into the shadows of the Fort's halls.

Leafa stood there thinking alone for a while longer. That man said that he'd make those decisions and do awful things because he cared for the guild. She started to wonder if that was anything like what she felt for her big brother, after all, Suguha would certainly opt to do questionable things if that meant that Kirito wouldn't be harmed, if it ever came to that.

Were they all that different? The blonde wondered, as she once again gazed at the stars, right on time to see a shooting star cross the night sky.


End file.
